


The Art Way

by 21PilotsWithGuns



Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy, LeATHERMØUTH, Mindless Self Indulgence, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, M/M, Office, Office AU, On Hiatus, Temporary ending chapter, aka its either shit or crack i'm not sure, frank in a band, last chapter differs largely in style, patrick is a singer, pretending not to be the boss basically, pretending to be somebody else
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-04
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-02-28 04:54:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2719439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/21PilotsWithGuns/pseuds/21PilotsWithGuns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(763): Hired a new intern today and we have something in common. I blew her boyfriend in high school. Do you think she knows?</p><p>Gerard Way has reached his goal. But he has to realise that he isn't happy despite that.<br/>He made a career and became what he was supposed to be as a child.<br/>But what he became was what he never wanted to be as a child: Alone.<br/>That is, until he quite literally runs into Frank one day.<br/>But Frank would be one of those people who would laugh behind his back for always doing as he was told.</p><p>(WIP) (with temporary ending) (now with slightly improved temporary ending)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Du hast stets getan, was man von dir verlangt - niemand hat sich je bedankt

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how i ended up here but i just had to try  
> http://textsfromlastnight.com/Text-Replies-60396.html
> 
> Also the chapter titels are from the song "Allein" (translation: Alone) by "die ärzte" because that also inspired this, or well, gerards character. the summary is somewhat a translation of the lyrics
> 
> just a side note:I have not really an idea of american high schools and if this works out with their real age difference so i think i won't mention any age, but from what i saw on wikipedia it should be possible to take place in a "combined junior-senior high school" so yeah... and maybe gee had to repeat or frank skipped a year or whatever...

Gerard Way was sitting in his office. He didn't really have a reason to be in his office except the fact that he didn't have a reason to be anywhere else because his company had become so successful that in the last two years all the work he once had to do himself was now done by newly hired or promoted employees. He was, for all intents and purposes, just the poster boy. No really, if there was a poster needed for anything he'd design it, but there were almost never any posters needed and designing a poster was not a long process, he'd actually just choose one of the pieces he'd drawn at some other point, because of course he was still drawing, either in his office or at home.  
The only reason Gerard still came to work was that it gave his life more of a purpose than spending all day in his big and empty house.  
The only people he had contact with outside of work were Ray and Mikey, who were also working for TAW.  
So most of the day Gerard would be in his office either drawing or daydreaming, sometimes playing games on his phone or computer and occasionally wishing for a boyfriend that he had no chance of finding since he never went out except for presentations of TAW's work. In the past Mikey would have dragged him to clubs where Gerard would sit at the bar, drinking too much and ignoring everyone who tried to talk to him. At some point they both realized that these trips were more destructive to Gerard than helpful and so he stopped forcing his brother along. Now all Mikey is doing is to at least try and keep Gerard and Ray in contact, resulting in at least twice monthly movie nights at one of their houses.  
At one point every day Gerard would pick up the little prism at the front of his desk that claimed in bold letters 'G. Art Way' and ask himself what on earth had moved him to make this decision, that was, in his opinion, the worst of his career.  
Today, in the middle of his disgusted staring contest with the offending thing, his PA Lindsey walked in, without bothering to knock, since she knew as well as everybody else that he had nothing to do.  
Snorting at the familiar scene playing out in front of her she informed her boss that “The new intern is here, and she basically already has the job but since you're the boss you kinda have the final word so you should talk to her”  
“O.K., let her in”, said Gerard, placing the name plate back at the front of his messy desk.  
How it always got so messy Lindsey would never understand since her boss had basically nothing to do but she decided not to think about it and instead tidied it quickly before letting in the new intern with a friendly “Mr. Way will see you now”  
As the young woman walked in Gerard noticed that Lindsey had placed an info sheet on her in front of him on his desk. It informed him her name was Jamia Nestor and she was currently studying art.  
Jamia cleared her throat, which caused Gerard to look up and realise that he had kind of ignored her while reading the sheet and asked her to sit and “Please call me Gee”, even though he knew she'd only call him G. Most people wouldn't hear the difference, but he did. 'Gee' would come from people who knew his real name and shortened the monstrosity that it was, 'G' was the name he had chosen for the world to give him years ago and he hated it. But not as much as he hated being called 'Mr. Way'. Sometimes he daydreamed about a world where everybody, including people on the streets called him Gee or Gerard, just like Patrick who'd come to visit somebody in the building every now and then (Mikey told him who the lucky guy was more than once but Gerard always forgot the name), nobody even considered calling the singer 'Mr. Stumph', he had reached that level of famous where everybody would just know him as Patrick or not at all.  
Failing to notice that he once more ignored the person in front of him he snapped back into reality when she, after a while, said “O.K., hello G.” and smiled.  
“I am very glad that you consider to let me intern at TAW”, she continued, “I always wanted to work with you, I admire your work, I really do.”  
“Well, hopefully you won't become a rival with your own business then”, Gerard attempted to joke, but Jamia seemed more shocked than he had anticipated which made him wince a little.  
“What no, that's not no!”  
“O.K. Then welcome to TAW”, he rushed, hoping that she'd get the clue and leave his office.  
Apparently she did, because she stood up and left, but not without thanking him profoundly first.  
After she had left Gerard collapsed onto his desk and buried his head in his arms scolding himself for his bad people skills.  
~*~*~  
An hour or so later the door to Gerard's office was opened once again, but this time more carelessly then Lindsey would do it.  
Knowing that his brother would have no regard towards his privacy he quickly folded the sketch he was working on and hid it under his desk. He had been absent minded almost the entire time he had worked on it, but seriously? Patrick Stumph? The guy was not only present on probably one or multiple walls of every teenage room across the world but apparently also the boyfriend of one of his own employees, he shouldn't even subconsciously think about it.  
“Pete needs a poster!”, Mikey announced as if it were cause for immense joy.  
O.K., it probably would be if Gerard had any idea who Pete even _was_.  
At his brothers blank stare Mikey elaborated “Pete. Pete Wentz? Head of the logo department?”  
When that still got him no reaction from Gerard he added “Patrick's boyfriend?”  
“Oh!”, Gerard exclaimed and asked himself if he he had started to subconsciously erase every memory of Pete Wentz, head of the logo department because he had a cute boyfriend.  
“Yeah, so maybe you should like, go there and talk to him? Maybe take whatever you were working on just now with you, you tend to use your latest work for the posters anyway...”  
“Yeah, uhm, no, I don't think that's a good idea”, Gerard fidgeted, “It's more, y'know...”  
“O.K., whatever Gee, I was heading out to Starbucks, I know you want some, I'll bring it to Pete's office so maybe get your ass over there yeah?”  
And with that he left.  
“Love you too, bro”, Gerard mumbled to himself.  
Collecting some of his older sketches from the pile Lindsey had created earlier, Gerard made his way over to Pete's office.  
~*~*~  
After he knocked at the door to Pete's office he could definitely hear talking inside. He didn't try to eavesdrop but the hallway was deserted and so he could easily follow the conversation inside.  
“Who knocks at YOUR door?”, somebody asked amused. No, not somebody, Gerard knew it was Patrick, everyone would know that voice. O.K., maybe not everyone but, you know, people with good taste in music.  
“I told you, I need a poster.”, that had to be Pete.  
“COME IN”, he shouted.  
Gerard opened the door, shifting his sketches around and loosing some in the process.  
“Shit”, he mumbled, picking them up again and finally greeting the other two people in the room with a simple “Hi”.  
Patrick regarded him curiously, obviously having no clue as to who he was, in fact, most people who happened upon him in the building without prior knowledge of how he looked like assumed him to be some sort of intern and that was not helped by the fact that he looked younger than he actually was, sometimes he was still being carded which was a little embarrassing.  
“G.!”, Pete exclaimed, causing Patrick's eyes to get huge and look between Pete and Gerard as if saying: “Seriously? This guy??”  
“Uh, yeah, uh, hello Pete, Mikey said you need a poster design...?”, why did Patrick have to be there? Gerard was definitely loosing his cool here! Not that he ever had some to begin with but...  
“Yes, yes, for a presentation to several sports teams, we designed some examples and next month they'll will be presented at a fair...”  
They had discussed the basics and designs for a while when Mikey barged in as unannounced as he had in Gerard's office. He was carrying four Starbucks cups in a cardboard tray and handed each of them one, not wanting to interrupt his brother and Pete too much.  
A while after Mikey had left Patrick announced to Pete that he had to leave, confusing Gerard who had honestly forgotten that he was actually still there.  
After that it didn't take long until they finished up, having agreed on one of Gerard's sketches as the poster design and now the digital artists on some other level would get instructed to create the actual poster and pass it along to print.  
On the way back to his office Gerard didn't pay much attention to his surroundings, so it was no wonder that he ran into someone. What was a surprise was the fact that he actually knew the person.  
“Sorry, sorry I didn't see... Frank?”  
“Gerard??”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edit: Yes i took out the beginning it used to have, just a few sentences but i felt they don't really fit in with the rest of the story
> 
> Today i fell on my ass twice. The first time was when i fell down the stairs not a minute after waking up. My best friend (she wrote "the wash" it's awesome check it out on my account) informes me that according to my horoscope today is my lucky day.  
> This is my first kinda serious fic and i am probably terrible at it so please comment and let me know what you think.
> 
> not yet proof read, please tell me if you find any mistakes, constructive criticism is VERY welcome, I'm probably gonna proofread it a couple times myself pretty soon
> 
> also, does anyone have an idea what to rate this?


	2. Du warst zuverlässig, hast dich angepasst - doch alle haben dich gehasst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we go, if you see this i managed to spit out another chapter woohoo  
> i am very happy that some people decided to read this, you're awesome :D  
> so now... onwards

The second Jamia had left Gerard's office she had texted her boyfriend Frank the good news.  
Frank, who was usually unoccupied during the day, had decided to pay her a visit during lunch break and maybe go for a coffee with her.  
Frank didn't actually like the concept of “The Art Way”, it went against his world view that art would be commercialized like that, he himself being the front man of a punk band at least so well known that it paid his bills but nowhere near mayor label. Leathermouth had an album out but most money they made with regular gigs at more or less local venues, throwing in a tour here and there.  
Also: Who would name themselves G. Art Way? Frank imagined Jamia's new boss as a fifty something balding stuck up dude in a suit, sitting in his office all day counting all the profits his company made and probably getting turned on by all the money. The image made him shudder and so he pushed it to the back of his mind.  
~*~*~  
So normally, Frank wouldn't be recognised by strangers on the street. Even less he was being recognised by big-shots in the music business, but here he was, standing in front of TAW's building and Patrick Stumph had just exited it, stopped and looked at him declaring “Holy smokes, you're Frank Iero from Leathermouth”  
“Uh, yeah, that's me, and you're Patrick Stumph.”  
Realising that they had just told each other what they most probably already knew they laughed a bit until Patrick said “No, but seriously, I have seen your band live, you guys are really good.”  
“I didn't think we'd be your genre of music...”  
“Music is my genre of music”, Patrick declared, “but I see where you come from, in my high school freshman year I played drums in this nu metal band, they'd probably call me a sell-out now...”  
“I'm not saying that what you do is completely rotten, it's just that, to me, art has to be freer than that...”, Frank said, gazing up the building in front of him.  
“So, what brings you here?”, Patrick asked, catching the hidden meaning of Frank's statement.  
“My girlfriend, actually.”, Frank confessed, “she's a new intern.”  
“Same”, Patrick laughed, “well, boyfriend and a bit higher up than an intern, but still”, he smiled, thinking about Pete.  
“Yeah, so Jamia doesn't actually know I'm visiting, so I should head up to catch her on her lunch break... It was nice talking to you.”  
“Yeah, maybe we see each other again, I'm actually here quite often, Pete's boss really doesn't mind.”  
'The boss doesn't mind', Frank thought as he was heading into the building and towards the elevator, 'maybe I can visit Jamia more often?'  
Once he was in the elevator Frank noticed that he had no clue which floor Jamia worked on so with a “Shit!” he made his way back through the closing elevator doors, out into the lobby.  
Behind a desk sat a boy a couple years younger than him playing with his phone. He was wearing a purple hoodie and red glasses. The plate in front of him informed Frank that he was talking to 'Spencer'.  
“uh, hey uhm, Spencer?”  
“Brendon”, was the reply, served with a blinding smile.  
“No, my name is Frank...”  
“No, sorry, I'm Brendon, Spence is currently... not available, but if I can help you?”  
“well, I wanted to visit my girlfriend, Jamia Nestor, she just started working here and now I wanted to surprise her on her lunch break, but I don't know which floor she'd be on...”  
“Nestor, Nestor”, Brendon mumbled, going through files on a computer “She an intern?”  
“Yes”, Frank confirmed.  
“Ah, O.K., here we go, Jamia Nestor... Top floor.”, he smiled.  
“Thank you.”  
~*~*~  
So now Frank was looking around on the top floor, that was admittedly somewhat bigger than he had expected, and tried to find Jamia.  
Suddenly he collided with something, no, someone he realised.  
Before he had the chance to apologize the other person was already talking.  
“Sorry, sorry I didn't see... Frank?”  
“Gerard?? What are you... You work here too?”  
“Yeah, no, I... I mean yes, I work here”, Gerard offered, “but you don't, I mean, I've never seen you...”  
“No, I don't work here, but my girlfriend, Jamia does... Wow, this is kinda awkward...”  
“Yeah, so I uhm... my boss he needs uhm... coffee!”, Gerard exclaimed as his eyes found the cup conveniently still placed in his hand.  
“Wow, so that's the interns job here? Poor Jamia... She was really exited to work for that big-shot Way, didn't listen when I told her he probably cares zero for his interns...”  
“Yeah, well anyway, see you”, Gerard winced and hurried around the next corner, and when he noticed that Frank was still looking around for Jamia, he jumped into Ray's office.  
Frank was still a bit shell shocked from seeing Gerard again. He had mostly forgotten about the guy, or, well, tried to forget about him, but in high school he had admired the older boy for being an artist and already knowing where he wanted to be when he grew up.  
It all had, quite literally, climaxed at a party they both had attended, and after a sloppy blow job in one of the houses bedrooms, Frank had stopped thinking about and talking to the guy, not yet ready to face his sexual identity.  
Frank shook himself out of it, realising that he didn't even remember the dudes last name.  
~*~*~  
When your best friend's brother, who is also kind of one of your best friends, even though he's a total social recluse and in addition, your boss, is suddenly standing in your office, back pressed on the door and breathing hectic you try to stay calm. At least when you are Ray Toro.  
“Gee, Gee, calm down, what happened?”  
“I met... there is... he can't be! He hates me!”  
“Is, is there someone threatening you? Do I have to talk to them?”  
“No, god no!”, Gerard rushed, “It's just... can I stay here for a while?”  
“Ooookaaayy, I guess?” Ray said and got back behind his desk and worked away at his computer.  
Gerard sighted and sat down on one of the other chairs in Ray's office, taking out his phone.  
After opening and closing some apps he eventually opened the messenger and wrote a text to Mikey:

Hired a new intern today and we have something in common. I blew her boyfriend in high school. Do you think she knows? xogee

You did what?? m

I didn't know that when I hired her! xogee

Of course you didn't... m

Where are you? m

Hiding with ray xogee

I'm coming m

Gerard knew he wouldn't be able to talk his brother out of it so he didn't even bother.  
A minute or so later the door to Ray's office opened again and Mikey entered.  
“Dude, do you know who I saw in the hallway? Frank Iero! You know, the dude that was so obsessed with you in high... Oh god Gee!”  
“I'm... sorry?”  
“I always wondered why he stopped stalking you! I assumed he realised that you're a weirdo! Seriously?”  
“twas a party 'n we were drunk...”, Gerard mumbled.  
“Apparently not drunk enough to forget it though! Does he know who you are?”  
“He recognised me as Gerard from high school, but I think he assumed I was interning here...”  
“And you didn't correct him?”  
“...No?”  
“Oh my god, you like him!”  
“I... uhm”  
“Gerard, he's taken!”  
“Seems to be my type”, Gerard mumbled.  
“What? Never mind, I'm gonna check if it's safe for you to leave...”  
But Mikey's comment had made Gerard realise, that yes, he liked Frank, and yes, he wanted to talk to him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soo i hope the quality is still good enough i will always think it's bad no matter what i do i guess
> 
> And I imagine Leathermouth in this a bit like pre-dookie, look-out signed Green Day, like touring in a van and so on, like making money and being famous in certain circles but not world famous  
> (but i doubt that they're gonna play woodstock anytime soon, sorry frank)  
> Ok, yeah, just a regular van era like every band has... i like green day though, like really like like favourite band like, like please Jason and Brittney beat you cancer D: I really want a tour but i also want them to be healthy


	3. Haben hinter deinem Rücken über dich gelacht

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gerard has a probably not so brilliant plan.  
> Ryan really needs a job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is short. but i wanted to put something more out there before I'm gone for the weekend, which will be in about an hour  
> btw i will update characters as i write them into the story, and that ryan is in there doesn't mean that dallon might not show up, because i really like dallon. Ryan just seemed the most fitting in this situation.
> 
> Also i like this chapter the least. If people tell me it's too bad i'll probably rewrite it idk

This had to be the most eventful day at work Gerard had had in a long time and it turned out to be far from over, because whilst Gerard was still thinking his options trough in his office (Frank knew him as Gerard the artist, that was what Frank had admired about him back in high school. Frank could under no circumstances know that Gerard was in fact not an intern at the creativity destroying office place -the few words they exchanged were enough to convince Gerard that this was exactly what Frank thought of TAW, he was oozing it from every pore- but it's boss. Frank had a girlfriend, Jamia, who was a real intern and would be confused if Frank mentioned another intern named Gerard when there was in fact, none. So Frank would find out who he really was, and then he would laugh about him. He had become a joke to people like Frank, a business man like his parents always wanted him to be but he himself never wanted to become.) the door to his office burst open once again, revealing his very pissed off receptionist, Spencer Smith.  
“Do you really not care at all?”  
“What... what are you talking about?”  
“Ryan? You said, you promised he'd get the intern position, and now you gave it to somebody else?”  
“I... did? I can't-”, but then he started to remember that conversation and how he had wanted to pass it on to Mikey or Lindsey but never did.  
“Oh, Spencer, I'm sorry! The election process has nothing to do with me, really, and I forgot to pass it on to the right people, I feel so bad now...”  
“Can't you do anything? You're the boss, Ryan needs an interning position and he didn't apply anywhere else because he thought he would be accepted here!”  
“Spencer I-”, but then Gerard had an idea. If he played this right and this Ryan was desperate enough for this position, he could be the solution to his Frank problem.  
“Yeah, I think, why not, actually can I talk to him? I'm sure we can make an exception.”, Gerard offered.  
“He's outside, I'll get him...”  
“Actually can I talk to him alone? Please?”  
“O.K...”  
Spencer exits and a few moments later Ryan enters Gerard's office.  
'The guy could be convincing with black hair and a different choice of outfit', Gerard thinks, 'now he only needs to be _convinced_ '  
“So, Ryan”, Gerard begins, “it seems like there was an uhm... mistake when selecting the person to fill the intern position, and this company usually only has only one intern position, but I have a proposition to you, since I understand that this is quite important to you-”  
“I'm not gonna sleep with you to get a job.”  
“What? No, no,that's not what I was talking about!”  
“O.K....”, Ryan didn't look very convinced. Gerard didn't blame him.  
“No, what I need you to do is convince the other intern, Jamia, that you are an intern called Gerard... Sleigh.”  
“That's supposed to be you right? Like Ger-Art Way?”, Ryan concluded.  
“Actually my middle name is Arthur so...”  
Ryan looked unimpressed.  
“At the time it seemed like a good decision! Anyway, back to my offer. You'd have to make a bit of an effort, dye your hair black and dress more similar to me, but if you think you can pull that off, you've got the job.”  
“I'm not really sure if I want to know what kind of mess you got yourself into, but I actually really need this job so I'm gonna do it.”  
“Yes? O.K., wow, that's... Yeah, that's gonna help, like, a lot. Thank you. So I guess you can start tomorrow? I'm gonna talk to the people in charge of the whole intern thing.”  
With that Ryan was dismissed and left the office feeling both confused and relieved. At least, when this all would blow up in Gerard's face, he could claim that he was doing it only because he really needed this job.  
Inside his office Gerard texted Mikey:

Make sure jamia will refer to you as mr. Way. Also from tomorrow on we will have a second intern called gerard sleigh. Don't ask. xogee

This is going to blow up in your face m

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gerard sleigh  
> I didn't sleep tonight  
> i watched the black parade is dead and **** live in phoenix  
> and wrote this shit while watching it


	4. Karriere hast du doch gemacht

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn some more background to the Panic! members that have been introduced so far  
> also Gerard informs Mikey about his plan  
> no frank, sorry, but in the next chapter there should be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another sleepless night anoter chapter  
> this is longer again. wooo  
> also there is a picture and i have to warn you, i have neither photoshop nor photoshop skillz so this is not really good  
> if my german teachers knew that all those short stories they forced me to write would be the cause for this one day...

Spencer was pissed when Ryan told him about Gerard's offer.  
“He can't ask you for that! He promised you this position weeks ago! He should just see that he fucked up and give you the place of that Jamia girl!”  
“Honestly Spence? I'm just glad that he didn't ask me to blow him in order to get the job or something, because I'm not sure if I'm not actually so desperate for it that I would've done it.”  
“I still don't think that it's O.K. of him.”  
“Come on, let's go back downstairs, the day is almost over and it's Brendon's turn to get food and he's probably just gonna get something delivered so him and me should head home first so it's already there when you get home...”  
With that they made their way to the elevator to relieve Brendon of Spencer's duties.  
Brendon didn't have an actual job at the moment, after he more or less voluntarily left his parents house he only managed to get a job at a restaurant, but they only needed his help for a few hours every Saturday and Sunday evening because those were the busiest times, so he lived on the couch of Spencer and Ryan's shared flat and the only condition was that he provided dinner two days a week.

~*~*~

The Way brothers usually made the journey to and from work together because Gerard's house happened to be on Mikey's way anyway.  
So Gerard knew Mikey would be waiting for him outside of his office, probably talking to Lindsey, who had been working at TAW for a long time. Mikey was generally more in touch with everyone who worked for Gerard, but Mikey had the gift of adequate people skills and Gerard just didn't. The only reason Gerard was head of TAW was that he was the older brother and had been guided on this path by his parents and their money. Mikey probably would have made a better boss. Mikey probably wouldn't have played into their parent's hands like he did. But the Way brothers stuck together, Gerard as the designated leader because of age and not competence. As the business grew Gerard had managed to exclude himself from most interactions with his many employees. Mikey was the one people would go to if they needed to contact anyone on management level, or maybe Lindsey, who had her desk in front of Gerard's office, if they really needed Gerard in person, which was mostly to design a poster. Mikey would go and check on the heads of the departments every day and generally make his rounds around the building to check if anything needed his attention.  
Spencer was the only other person Gerard talked to that worked here and only because he made his way past him every day. Their conversations were brief and evidently Gerard didn't pay too much attention.  
When Gerard left the office Mikey was indeed there, even though he had really hoped that maybe today something would keep him from it, because he knew Mikey would chew him out for his 'keep Frank from finding out who I am' plan, the guy was smart enough to connect those dots.  
“Why do you plan to pull that shit on Frank?”, was his greeting.  
“You are the one who always tells me to make more friends! And here is someone I actually used to know and I'm just trying to reconnect, Mikey...”  
“No, what is happening is that you are lonely and have no one available for a relationship, so you jump at the first chance you see! That is low Gerard, you know he's in a relationship. What is even lower is the fact that you are planning to flat out lie to him! How do you want to hide all that forever??”  
“That's not-”  
The elevator they had gotten into at one point in their hushed argument announced their arrival in the lobby and they made their way past Spencer who was scowling at Gerard the whole time.  
When they got out and made their way towards Mikey's car Gerard continued.  
“That's not true! I really just want to befriend him, he is a nice person. The problem is that he thinks I or rather G. Art Way is some sort of Ebenezer Scrooge right now and if I told him who I am he'd be the first one to hate me and laugh about me for the career choices I made, he always believed that art should be free and that is what he liked in me.”  
“I still don't get how me pretending to be you and somebody else pretending to be... you? Wait this is getting to meta for me what is happening exactly?”  
They had reached the car by now and after they'd gotten in and buckled up Gerard explained his plan in full detail.  
“What I want is Jamia to come home with stories about 'Mr. Way' being an awesome boss and also not get confused when Frank mentions the intern Gerard. But since I told Jamia to call me G. I need you to be Mr. Way. She shouldn't have anything to tell about me because I will avoid her. But there has to be an intern called Gerard, and since I don't think that Frank remembers my last name so I got Spencer's friend Ryan, whom I forgot I had promised the intern position to, to actually be an intern but under another name-”  
“Ryan? Spencer's flat-mate Ryan? When did you promise him an intern position and why don't I know this?”  
“Spencer asked me some time ago and I simply forgot to pass it on... Anyway, Ryan is going to intern as Gerard Sleigh so Jamia thinks Frank is talking about him when Frank mentions me. Easy. Well, maybe I need to talk to Ryan a few times more than I'd usually like to talk to anyone and also Spencer hates me but apart from that...”  
“I'd make an actual effort and try to stop you because I love you but seriously? I know you're too stubborn to actually do as I tell you and I refuse to get mom and dad to stop you because for some reason those are the only persons that succeed in telling you what to do.”  
“Thanks, I guess?”  
“Don't mention it, _really_.”

~*~*~

When Spencer opened the door to their flat it smelled like take out Chinese food and... something else. He knew the smell, he just couldn't place it. Just as his brain provided him with the image of one of his sisters with amateurish died hair (in an attempt to stand out from the other twin) and their mothers shocked expression, Ryan walked into view, still wet and newly black hair.  
Spencer stopped dead in his tracks, staring at his best friend with a similar expression his mother had all those years ago.  
“I can't believe it!”, he muttered, but kept from making further comments at Ryan's pleading look.  
Brendon exited their small kitchen and set plates with food on the coffee table which doubled as a dining table since they didn't have a dining room. They had floor pillows instead.  
“What do you think about Ryan's new hair?”, Brendon asked Spencer “I think it's awesome!”  
Spencer just made a non-committal noise and went into his room to put away his things, leaving Brendon confused for a while, but it was nothing that could change his usual cheery mood.  
They ate dinner together and then watched a random blockbuster that was on TV that day, as was their usual routine.  
In that fashion this day would end and the next one would be started: After the movie Spencer and Ryan would prepare for bed and vanish in the bathroom and after that their rooms while Brendon would prepare his bed on the couch and then go to the bathroom himself.  
The next day Brendon would wake up first because he was naturally an early riser, see it as his duty to prepare breakfast for his hosts and himself to make their start into a day with actual tasks as pleasantly as possible (Brendon had stopped hunting for a better job after he had been unsuccessful for too long and had been promised the next free full time spot at the restaurant so now he had mostly nothing to do all day, except for keeping Spencer company so he stopped bitching about being all alone in TAW's lobby all day.).  
After breakfast Spencer would leave for work and Brendon would either go with him right away or do something else first, like cleaning or shopping. Ryan would also leave, but instead of attending his place of higher education, he would also go to TAW this time. With black hair and a black suit that was not at all the way he usually would dress.

~*~*~

When Gerard and Mikey entered the lobby the next morning, Gerard could have sworn that Spencer looked even more pissed then when they had left the day before. Also his friend with th glasses was there again, looking mildly concerned from Spencer to Gerard, whispering something to Spencer that caused him to shake his head.  
Gerard had never been so happy to see those elevator doors close.  
When they arrived on top level Mikey left to make his rounds and Gerard headed to his office.  
When he saw Ryan standing there he knew his plan might work.

He approached Ryan and invited him into his office.  
Once inside he asked him “I suppose you have been informed about your actual intern tasks already?” and really hoped the answer was yes, because to be honest he had no clue what those even _were_. He used to, he used to be the one to work with the interns a few years ago, but everything had changed as the company grew.  
“Yes.”, Ryan said to Gerard's relief.  
“O.K. then. What I want from you I basically already told you yesterday. Jamia needs to think that you are me. But also I need you to not get in contact with her boyfriend Frank. Short dude, punk-y hair, lots of tattoos, including neck and hands, not to miss. Actually, if you see him, go get me, I'm usually here in my office. I think that's all...”  
“If you promise me that I can blame everything on you in the end...”  
“If this works out right there will be no one blamed on the end! So... uhm, go to work, I guess... And maybe meet me here again every morning, so we can coordinate this a bit.”  
“Whatever you want.”, Ryan confirmed, and left the office, shaking his head a little.  
Gerard was left alone and fist pumped the air after the door has closed behind Ryan. After that he looked around his office for a while and sat behind his desk with a sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i keep teaching my open office the names of the bandom people to avoid the red squiggly lines, but it still does that when i write mom and i refuse to add that to the british dictionary but i'll keep writing it cause they're still in america even if I'm not sure where. I'd say the office is in new york but I have no idea if there is an area around that would have houses like the ones I imagine for them, at least close enough to a place where an office building like that would be located. also I'm not sure if people who'd work there would actually drive a car, all i know about new york and new jersey is from counless how i met your mother reruns that i watched on daytime tv whenever i was sick in school!


	5. Du hast dein Ziel erreicht und jetzt stellst du fest, dass du trotzdem nicht glücklich bis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frank is back and we learn that two more people from bandom work for Gerard. What a surprise!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had joe tagged in this for a while while writing the chapter but decided to replace him with Brian because i have another plan for joe now. in case there were confused people because of that.
> 
> also i hope this makes all sense, i'm not all that awake, i slept a few hours in the middle of writing this but not all too much.

Jamia was late for her second day at TAW. It wasn't her fault, really, one of the subway trains she had wanted to take had technical difficulties and for safety reasons everyone had to wait for the next one half an hour later since it was at a station far off the city centre.  
When she finally arrived at the building and entered the lobby the two boys at the reception desk stopped their hushed conversation to look at her. She couldn't help but get an uneasy feeling at the look they both threw her, but brushed it off as them judging her for her tardiness and hoped that the bosses would understand that it wasn't her fault.  
While she was in the elevator she remembered a conversation she and Frank had had in the evening, about, apparently, another intern called Gerard that worked here that he had met before taking her out for lunch and he knew from back in high school. He described him having black hair and wearing dark clothes, but Jamia was sure that she hadn't seen anybody like that except for her boss G., which could admittedly be short for Gerard, but he wasn't an intern. Also she had been sure that she had the only interning position TAW was offering.  
She wondered if she would understand all this today.  
The elevator finally arrived on the top floor and the doors opened to reveal a man with a lot of very curly hair that muttered something about paternosters as he made his way past Jamia and into the elevator.  
She made her way over to Mr. Hurley's office- no, Andy's office, it still confused and surprised her a little that everyone except for Mr. Way, G.'s younger brother, insisted on being called by their firstnames by the intern. As she was approaching the door someone who she at first glance thought to be G. exited it. But then she realised that it was not, in fact, her boss.  
“Ex- excuse me?”, she asked, “But you don't happen to be Gerard by any chance?”  
The other one looked confused for a moment but then he said  
“Oh. You must be Jamia!”  
“Yes, I'm interning here, I was assigned to Andy to help with the upcoming presentation of the NGO department...”  
“Yes, M...Mr. Way mentioned that. He told me the fact that two presentations are taking place in such short intervals is the only reason that they hired two interns on top level this time... I am helping Pete from the logo department, by the way, he was just sending me over to ask Andy something...”  
“So why didn't I see you around yesterday? My boyfriend, Frank apparently saw you, he told me you knew each other...”  
“Yes, Frank and me used to be friends in high school but we lost contact, I was very surprised to see him here to be honest. I wasn't introduced to you yesterday because they weren't sure if they were really gonna give the job to me since that whole two interns thing, but I managed to convince them, so here I am, Gerard Sleigh, intern at TAW...”  
“Oh, that's nice, I'm happy for you... oh, I just remembered, I'm already extremely late, I should go in and talk to Andy now! See you later Gerard!”  
“Yeah, you too”, said Ryan and made his way back to Pete's office.

~*~*~

When Ryan exited Gerard's office that morning, an hour before Jamia would show up, a guy with glasses was leaning against the desk of his new bosse's PA. Upon seeing Ryan he straightened and walked up to him.  
“Hi, I'm Mikey and I need to talk to you.”  
“O...O.K.?”  
"I'm sure Brian already introduced you to Pete and they went over your tasks as an intern here, right?”  
“Yes, I know what I'm supposed to do.”  
“O.K., but Ryan- Yes I know who you really are, don't look so shocked- I need to clarify some of the things Gee requires of you, because I'm sure he didn't tell you half of the things you need to know about his idiotic plan. For example, you know Frank?”  
“Yeah, that's the guy this is all about?”  
“More or less. So him and Gee used to be 'friends' in high school”, Mikey made actual air quotes at that, “and now he wants to reconnect but without letting on to Frank that he didn't implement his teenage dreams, at least that's the version he tries to sell me.”  
“Oh, that is... weird?”  
“Not for Gee, not really. Anyhow, another part of the plan is that Frank hears from Jamia how the bosses here are are actually good people, which is why, even though usually everyone here is on first name basis, in front of her you will refer to me as Mr. Way since you're the only two interns here and it would be weird for you to call me Mikey while she has to stick to my last name. And now you should head back to Pete, and if he asks why you were hired as a second intern tell him Mikey said he should shut up and be glad he got one after all after drawing the shorter straw with Andy. The official reason we hired you is that it is unusual for these presentations to take place so close to each other and so we decided to add you to the team. Just tell Jamia you weren't introduced to her yesterday because you were still in a trial period because of the unusual situation.”  
And with that Ryan or maybe his alter ego Gerard Sleigh made his way over to Pete's office, trying to file away all that information. The reason Mikey had given him for this scheme didn't sound too despicable, but apparently not even Mikey believed it to be true. 'Oh well, better not to think too much about it and just be glad you got the job'.

~*~*~

After a few hours of helping Andy plan for the presentation and learning a great deal about the companies ways ('learning by doing' seemed to be Andy's motto, he would set her a task and encouraged her to find a solution by herself, supporting her when she would need help and asked for it, never deciding to intervene on his own) it was time for Jamia's lunch break.  
The thing was, she wasn't really hungry and also enjoying her current task. So when Frank showed up to ask her if she wanted to go out for lunch she told him that she'd much rather stay and work to get the time she lost because of the trains that morning, if that was O.K. with him.  
Frank could see how much Jamia enjoyed herself, smiled and said:  
“Of course that's O.K., I can see you're occupied here, maybe we can go another time.”  
Back in the hallway he then realised that now he didn't have somebody to eat lunch with and that he had made the trip here for nothing.  
That's when Gerard showed up.

~*~*~

'Gerard Way was sitting in his office. Big surprise. I wonder if the book about my life will start like that. In my office-'  
His rather pointless train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by said office's door opening, revealing, much to Gerard's surprise, neither his PA nor his brother, but Ryan.  
Gerard sat down his name plate, that he had picked up again at some point and looked at him expectantly.  
“Your guy is here.”, Ryan announced, “Looks like he's having a religious experience at the watercooler or something.”  
“Oh, O.K., uhm, you stay clear of him and Jamia now and I'm just gonna, uhm, yeah.”, Gerard said intelligently and left his office. Lindsey watched him a bit puzzled, but he waved her off when she started to get up.  
As Ryan had said Frank was standing in front of the watercooler, not really looking at it but through it, lost in his thoughts.  
“Uhm, hi, Frank.”, Gerard announced his presence.  
“Oh, hi Gerard.”  
“What were you thinking about? You looked really far away...”  
“Oh, was I? I was just thinking about what to do now, because I wanted to take Jams out for lunch again, but she's busy so now I am here for nothing...”  
“I'm on my lunch break! That is, if you wanna catch up, maybe, I don't know...”  
“Actually, why not, sounds good. Do you have somewhere you usually go?”  
“You know, I am actually 90% sure the Starbucks next door makes 50% of it's money from me.”  
“Starbucks it is then.”, Frank smiled.

~*~*~

When they sat down at their table with their order Frank asked Gerard: “Is it just me or does the receptionist not like you? He kept looking at you as if you were... I don't know, leprous or something.”  
Gerard raised an eyebrow at that.  
“Leprous, really?”  
“Shut up.”  
“No Spencer s just... I kinda promised him something but I forgot about it and now he's pissed, but I think, _I hope_ he's going to forgive me some day soon.”  
“Oh, well good luck with that, I guess... Hey another thing: Believe it or not, dude, I can't remember your last name, which is kinda embarrassing given the fact that you were the first, _you know_?” Frank smiled uneasily.  
'The first?', Gerard thought 'Does that mean there were more? Does that mean he isn't straight?'  
The thought made him more exited than it probably should have.  
“Sleigh.” He answered. “Gerard Sleigh.”  
Now there was no going back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so maybe write a comment if you read this all to let me now if the quality is still acceptable? I'm writing this faster then i expected because i am weirdly inspired and also not doing anything else at the moment...
> 
>  
> 
> i morphed ryan and gerard because i was bored  
> 


	6. Weil es nicht so leicht ist, nur der zu sein, der du als Kind schon werden solltest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pretty Patrick centered towards the end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, it's another chapter.

“Gerard and Frank”, Frank said. “We could form a club for young people with old-people names. Well, 'Gerard' is at least more nickname friendly then 'Frank' let me guess your friends call you-”  
“Gez. Or Gezza.”, Gerard interrupted him. That was of course complete bullshit, the names were the ones a British art magazine, the one that was so obsessed with him that people started theorising he had a thing with the editor, had given him. He just knew that he had to separate himself as far as possible from “G” in Frank's head.  
“Not what I would have expected, but O.K., Gez it is”, Frank smiled.  
Gerard tried to smile back confidently.  
They drank their coffee and ate their sandwiches quickly, because even though both of them had a lot of time Gerard had to keep up the pretence of being an intern with a limited lunch break. The positive aspect of that was, that there was not too much opportunity for small talk, which Gerard was predictably awful at. Frank provided most of it while Gerard kept to nodding and/or humming.  
He told Gerard about Leathermouth and how they made it to where they are now.  
When the lunch break of intern Gerard was almost over they said their goodbyes and Gerard went back to TAW to inform Ryan he could stop avoiding Jamia now.

~*~*~

After Ryan had seen Gerard and Frank leave he had made his way into the lobby to spend his own lunch break with Spencer and Brendon.  
After a few minutes Patrick walked into the lobby, greeting the boys at the reception desk.  
“Hi, Spencer, Brendon, …?”, he trailed off.  
“Gerard”, said Ryan, introducing himself, “I'm Pete's new intern.”  
“Really? I thought he didn't get one because Andy won the lottery for that? I'm Patrick, Pete's boyfriend by the way...”  
“I know”, Ryan smiled, “And yeah, they originally didn't give Pete an intern, but they decided to hire two this time.”  
“Oh, that's very good for you then, everybody here is very friendly, as far as I can tell. I assume I'll see you later then, Gerard.”

~*~*~

Patrick exited the elevator on top floor and made his way over to Pete's office.  
It didn't surprise him that Pete was writing in his journal, Pete tended to write a lot of poetry, some of which he had shared with Patrick and Patrick had turned some of them into songs that would be included on his next album. It was going to sound much more pop-punk than his previous releases, because he felt that genre that fit the lyrics best, but his solid fan base was used to his changing styles and collaborations with different artists such as Timbaland and Weekend Nachos.  
Then there were people who only liked certain albums or songs but Patrick was O.K. with that. He made music for himself, not for other people.  
Pete looked up when he noticed Patrick had entered and smiled at him.  
“Hi Trick!”  
“Hi, Pete. So, I met your new intern downstairs...”  
“Oh, yeah...”  
“What is it?”, Patrick asked, walking around Pete's desk to lean against it.  
“It's just a bit weird, you know? This morning Brian just shows up with him, out of the blue and assigns me an intern I have never heard of before. They won't tell me why I got one after they first told me I wouldn't. Then the guy basically looks like G. 2.0, is even called _Gerard_ and weirdest of all, keeps running off to talk to G.”  
“Why is that so weird?”  
“G. doesn't talk to people! I've never even seen him acknowledge anyone in the hallway except for Mikey and Ray and these two basically founded this whole company with him so that's no surprise.”  
“And what do you think? That he's spying on you? That'd be ridiculous, Pete.”  
“I don't know, maybe they think I fucked something up? Hell, I am surprised that I haven't fucked up yet! Maybe I did fuck up and didn't even notice it yet???”  
“Pete! Calm down! Mikey is one of your best friends, do you really think he would do something like that? There might be a reason for all this, but if there is it has nothing to do with you.”  
“I hope you're right.”  
Before Patrick could give his boyfriend more reassurances Ryan walked in, ending their conversation for them.  
Patrick stayed in Pete's office while he and Ryan continued their work. Since both Pete and Patrick had very busy schedules and Patrick had periods where he was often also occupied in the evenings they just tried to see each other as often as possible during those times, even if it just meant Patrick's presence in Pete's office for however long he had a free spot on his timetable.  
Speaking of which, he had to leave 45 minutes after Ryan had come back from his lunch break.  
Next on Patrick's roster was a live interview at a TV station, not uncommon in the promoting stage shortly before an albums release, even though these would even double after the release and before, ultimately, touring. Sometimes Patrick wished he had a real band, somebody else as a front man and other members whom he could split the promoting activities. As it was, his contract was a solo one, but his friend Joe, who just so happened to have introduced him to Pete, was his touring guitarist and also featured as a session guitarist on some of Patrick's tracks. He was just not well recognised enough by people to join in on interviews, even though he also had a small fan base.  
When he arrived at the TV station Patrick mentally prepared himself for the interview itself and the torture that the make-up people would put him through before it. He would get gradually more anxious until the questions started, then it was eerily close enough to performing that he didn't mind anymore.  
He answered a few of the usual questions about the album (Yes, it would be as usual different from everything released before that and the rumours he wasn't the primary lyricist were correct) the upcoming tour (Yes, he would tour with twenty one pilots as his opener), private life (Yes, he was happy with his boyfriend, no they didn't plan to make the relationship more public) and so on.  
But the interviewer also asked him if he had enjoyed any other artists particularly recently.  
“I generally listen to a lot of radio, I like what is new in the charts.”, he told her, “but I briefly met Frank Iero from Leathermouth yesterday and had a chance to tell him I really enjoy his band's music.”  
“I don't think I ever heard of them.”, she confesses.  
“Well, they are this punk band from New Jersey, I was at one of their gigs a while ago.”, he explained.

At home, channel surfing and soon having to leave for a writing and practising session with his band Frank stopped dead in his tracks.  
Patrick Stumph was talking about Leathermouth. On live TV.

~*~*~

Frank arrived at their rehearsal place ten minutes too late. He had been glued to his TV to catch the rest of Patrick's interview.  
“Guys”, he announced as he shouldered open the door, “I think we should concentrate more on practising than writing new songs for a while, because we're gonna play a few sold out shows.”  
Four pairs of curious eyes turned to look at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are appreciated because I'm an insecure shit.
> 
> also i was quite obviously listening to twenty one pilots towards the end.


	7. Denn was du erreicht hast, ist, so zu sein, wie du als Kind nie werden wolltest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tuesday evening till early wednesday morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took too long. I'm not sleeping very well and hoped for something to help with sleeping but my doctor just told me it was an adhd problem and i should take medication for that again, so i thought i shouldn't delay this any longer. This means this chapter is written by someone very tired. Please comment on everything that is shit about it (i assume everything). what I'm saying is leave a coment. please?  
>   
> So, apparently people DO like this chapter?

Every Monday Ray had dinner with his mother. It was a tradition he had no complains against. A part of this tradition was that she'd give him more food in Tupperware than he could possibly eat by himself to take home. Thus it became tradition that he would take the leftovers to Mikey and have dinner with him on Tuesday.  
That's why on this evening Ray found himself in Mikey's dining room talking about this and that (“I think we should install paternosters in the building. Would make things quicker!” “I believe I've read that almost all of them were removed because of safety issues, sorry Ray...”) until eventually the conversation shifted to Gerard. “So, what was that yesterday with your brother in my office? And why do we suddenly have a second intern with the oh so common name Gerard?”  
With a sigh Mikey told Ray the whole story of Gerard and Frank and made no attempt to sound like he believed his brother's “I just want to make a friend” bullshit.  
“Is it weird that something like that doesn't even surprise me anymore?”, wondered Ray.  
“It's Gerard we're talking about, so I guess not...”, Mikey admitted, “but this time I won't help him out of this mess because I told him not to do it quite a few times and he decided not to listen.”  
“I can hardly believe that he is as old as me, seriously... You'd expect a little more common sense, don't you think?”  
“I think the problem is that all the really important decisions were always made for him by our parents. He somehow never learned to think about the consequences of his actions. So maybe this is good, maybe this will teach him a lesson in the end. God knows he needs to learn one.”  
After they exhausted the topic of Mikey's idiotic brother they decided the best way to end their Tuesday was to play some video games. They decided that almost every Tuesday.

~*~*~

Not for the first time in the past few months Gerard was wandering around his large house, wishing someone would share it with him. Only this time it wasn't a generic person he imagined occupying the various rooms he walked trough. This time he saw Frank sitting on the sofa, cooking in the kitchen, eating at the table, sleeping in his bed.  
His heart stung at the picture in his mind. He hadn't had someone to share (more than he shared with Mikey) with for years. And additionally the last time ended... not so well.  
He smiled to himself when he remembered the lunch he had with Frank that day. He was convinced that his plan would work. Frank would start to like him enough, that he'd be O.K. to learn the truth some day. Frank would understand why Gerard had to keep his true identity secret, for the sake of their relationship. And Frank would soon realise that Gerard was way better for him then Jamia, he was sure of it.

~*~*~

“Patrick is on TV this evening.”, Ryan informed the other two after dinner.  
“Do you want to watch it?”, Spencer asked.  
“I don't think there is anything more interesting airing today, to be honest”, Brendon said. He'd mostly know what was on because he had actually enough spare time to study the TV guide thoroughly.  
So they watched the interview together, mostly in silence, at least until Patrick mentioned Frank.  
“Isn't that dude the reason for this charade you have to pull?”  
“I think so...”, Ryan admitted.  
“We should check this band out someday!”, Brendon suggested.  
“No, I can't go, Jamia could be there and recognise me...”  
“Well, then me and Spencer will have to go!”  
“I don't know, Bren, I don't think I really want to...”  
“Aww, come on, I can't go alone!!”  
“Maybe you'll find someone else...”

~*~*~

When Patrick arrived at Pete's house (he hadn't moved in officially yet, but he spent more time there than at his own home) it was already early Wednesday morning.  
Pete was asleep when Patrick entered the bedroom, but since he was a light sleeper he soon woke up.  
“Hey Trick”, he murmured.  
“Hey Pete”, Patrick smiled.  
“How was your, uh...”  
“Vip-Party.” Patrick informed while changing into his pyjamas (Pete smiled when Patrick exchanged his socks for a new pair of socks). “It was O.K., got a few pictures taken which is the whole purpose of these things, Josh and Tyler were there which was nice. You know? The dudes from twenty one pilots.”  
“Yeah... You'll have to introduce us someday.”  
“I will. At one of the local tour dates the very least. Did you watch the interview yesterday?”  
“Yeah, I did. I liked the performance. 'Love, Selfish Love' was always one of my favourites.”  
“I like our songs better.” Patrick confessed as he climbed into bed next to Pete. “You are a far superior lyricist.”  
“I won't change your mind on that, will I?”, Pete asked.  
“No.”, Patrick said and kissed Pete. “Goodnight, Pete”  
“Night, Patrick”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone want's a feeling for the state I've been in for the last week and still am tbh (the reason why this took so long) watch [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv773plAGuM)  
> i think that shows it pretty well, but sadly even though i'm having issues with my sleep moving to new york is no option for me D:


	8. Du warst auch mal verliebt, doch das ist lange her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Wednesday~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to not pair any of the guys in Panic because to me the "deeper" panic fandom is still an enigma. I mean i do read panic fics and I'm sure a few year ago ryden was to panic what frerard and peterick are to mcr and fob but i feel like this has shifted a lot and i'm not sure what would be a widely accepted shipping here. Brendon/Spencer? Brendon/Dallon? So I am not going to pair up anyone in Panic, at least not intentionally.

When Spencer woke up the next morning and left his room to head towards the bathroom he could hear Brendon singing from the kitchen:  
“Cut the power off, give me cold cramped rooms  
Disconnected phones and leaky roofs  
Give it to me in large unpaid bills  
This is how we, this is how we will  
Spend the rest of our days  
Forever and always, this is  
This is how we live” Spencer shuddered at the image of Brendon living in the conditions the song described, but he knew that it was exactly what would have happened if Ryan and him hadn't taken the guy in. As he was brushing his teeth he could hear Ryan exiting his room and singing the last verse:  
“We form another angry band  
Brendon took all the pots and pans  
And locked them in his room  
Now what are we gonna do?”  
He smiled, he could visualise Brendon pouting at this for a second until he would start to smile again. 'Yes', he thought, 'this arrangement is definitely better than the alternative.'

~*~*~

Even though he had gone to bed much later than Pete the previous night Patrick woke about an hour before Pete's alarm would normally blast Metallica through his phone's speakers.  
Deciding that he wouldn't fall asleep again before he had to get up anyway he went to the kitchen to prepare some breakfast. That's how it happened.  
As he was midway to placing a glass on the table it slipped his grasp and shattered to a million pieces on the floor.  
“Shit, er shoot!”, exclaimed Patrick, shaking his head when he realised that he was in his boyfriends kitchen and no members of the public were around to feel offended. Maybe he wasn't as awake as he had thought.  
But now he needed a broom or a vacuum cleaner. Patrick knew where Pete's broom closet was located but funnily enough he had never needed anything from inside till that day.  
So you can imagine his surprise when he found not only a broom and a vacuum cleaner in there but also _a bass_. That was indeed very strange because Pete had always told him that he didn't play any instruments.  
Pete appeared behind Patrick, having been woken up by the noise of the breaking glass.  
“Pete”, Patrick said, “why didn't you tell me you played? You always said you weren't a musician! I... you could've played on the album!”  
“Patrick I... Actually I'm surprised that you didn't know or maybe you just haven't made the connection... I'm sorry that I didn't tell you but my reputation back in Chicago wasn't exactly the best...”  
At the mention of his old home the pieces finally connected in Patrick's head. “You... Chicago? You're _the Pete Wentz_!”  
“I thought you must have heard of me back then. I had expected you to make the connection when I first told you I was from Wilmette, but you didn't so I just... let it slide...”  
“Heard of you? Are you kidding me? You were famous! Well, infamous, to be honest. But I was a teenager back then... I'm five years younger than you, it's not too strange that I've never met you, and I haven't really thought back to my awkward fat teenager time for years, really... But Pete! You were in _Arma Angelus_ , with Tim McIlrath! I think there is even a Wikipedia article on that band, holy smokes!”  
“There actually is, but Tim is the only one that has his own article... I bet we have an overenthusiastic Rise Against fan to thank for that Arma article though...”  
“Is that how you know Joe? From the Chicago scene? He told me he was involved in it when we first met in the studio. I bet it wouldn't have taken much for me and him to meet back in Chicago in a bookstore or something”, laughed Patrick.  
“And Andy”, Pete nodded, “but none of our bands ever took off, so we had to rethink our career choices. Me and Andy decided to stick together and that's how we ended up at TAW.”  
By then Pete had put his am around Patrick and leaned his head on the smaller ones shoulder.  
“Just imagine”, Patrick said, taking Pete's hand in his, “what could have been when the four of us had met and formed a band together.”  
“With your voice we would've made it on top of the charts in less then five years.”, Pete assured.  
From upstairs they could hear the intro of 'Master Of Puppets'.

~*~*~

Leathermouth's band practice had taken till way past midnight and after they had finished up Frank had noticed two missed calls from Jamia. Well, she knew that Tuesdays were band days, so she should be O.K., Frank reasoned, she hadn't left a message after all or written a text.  
Frank was at home now, watching some cheesy horror movie marathon waiting for it being time to leave for his lunch with Jamia. He was also exited to see Gerard again today, he had decided to invite the guy to next Saturday's Leathermouth show.  
Maybe he was a bit too exited, he noted. Huh.

~*~*~

Gerard Way was, once again, sitting at his office and staring at his name plate, when the doors were opened.  
“Frank is here”, said Ryan, sounding bored. “I think he's looking for you...”  
“Oh, O.K., just-”  
“I know, I know, I'll be in my bedroom making no noise and pretending I don't exist.”, said Ryan in a deadpan.  
“Yeah, basically.”, confirmed Gerard and left to search for Frank.

“Oh, Gerard, hi!”, said Frank when he saw him. “I was looking for you! I wanted to invite you to next Saturday's Leathermouth show, I can write you and plus one up on the guest list if you want to come! If you don't have time on Saturday, we also play the Friday after that...”  
“I'm single.”, Gerard blurted out, which wasn't the answer he had wanted to give. “I mean, yeah, Saturday is fine...”  
“O.K.... You can bring whoever, you know? Well, I'm gonna go have lunch with Jamia now, see you around Gerard.”, he smiled.  
“Yeah, Frank, see you...”, Gerard said quietly and went back to his office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw, if anyone wants [a translation for the chapter titels, here it is](http://lyricstranslate.com/de/allein-alone.html) it's not 100% correct but the person at least tried and i didn't ;P
> 
> The song is ['Landlords' by Pinhead Gunpowder (I did mention I love Green Day, right?)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJRNTqKoep0) & [here is a demo version with lyrics and where the last verse isn't cut off](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3amcjHXd5hA)  
> Reading about past Fall Out Boy made me really emotional for some reasons?


	9. Heute liebst du keinen mehr

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Me and Pete  
> In the wake of ~  
> ~ when these open doors were open-ended

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which I use members of The Cab????  
> Cash Colligan follows me on twitter and Gabe Saporta just mentioned me in a tweet. he made a pun. What is life???  
> 

On Thursday and Friday nothing special happened. Frank had lunch with Jamia on both days and Gerard stayed in his office.

Saturday on the other hand saw Gerard fretting about the show and how he should show up to it.  
After waking up and a rushed breakfast consisting mainly of coffee he started 'planning' his outfit.  
Meaning he pulled out shirts and jeans out of his dresser, put them on, went to the bathroom to apply make-up, went back to his bedroom to change the outfit, then noticing that the make-up would smear on his shirts, back to the bathroom and so on.  
After about one and a half hours of that he called Mikey. And whined to Mikey. Mikey rolled his eyes a lot but was at Gerard's door ten minutes later.  
He pulled a Misfits shirt out of Gerard's dresser that actually fit and a pair of skinny black jeans.  
Then he told Gerard that he would come with him to the show so “You don't do anything too stupid.” (Gerard was secretly very glad about that) Then he made Gerard sit on the couch and watch Star Wars with him, because they had several hours until the show actually started.

~*~*~

Brendon's job at the restaurant started at four. When he arrived there ten minutes earlier the owner was waiting for him.  
“Aaah Brendon, I have good news for you.”  
“Oh, really?”, Brendon said. 'Fulltimejobfulltimejobfulltimejob' was what he was thinking.  
“Yes, yes. You know Ian? He was another waiter here and as you know I promised you the next full time slot and, well, Ian just quit.”  
“Really? Does that mean...?”  
“Yes. You get his job if you want. His hours were Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday till Thursday, three to eleven PM.”  
“Yes, yes, I take it!”, Brendon almost shouted, doing his best not to jump on the spot.  
“Well, good then. Come see me in my office after your shift so we can go over the contract. And now off to work, the guests are waiting!”  
Brendon couldn't believe it. This might be his chance to move into a real flat!  
On his way to the kitchen he saw his colleague Dallon, which made him remember something.  
“Hey, uhm, Dallon. So I just got offered Ian's job. Isn't he your flat-mate? Why did he quit?”  
“Was my flat-mate... His band got signed. To a real label! He's moving out into a better apartment and all that... Now I have to find a new flat-mate...”, Dallon explained.  
“Wait, what you are saying is, the half of your flat, which Ian could afford with the money he made in the job that I'm gonna be doing now, is going to be available?”, Brendon probed.  
“Yes? Oh, are you saying you need a place?”  
“That's exactly what I'm saying.”, beamed Brendon. “Well, only if you want to have me that is.”  
“I would love to! Certainly better then the alternative!”  
“Then we have a deal.”  
“Yes. But maybe we should get to know each other a bit? Assuming you have Ian's old times, how about we spent Friday together to do that?”  
“Actually there is a show on Friday I wanted to see and so far I have no one to go with, so if you wanted to go?”  
“What band?”  
“Leathermouth, they're this Punk band...”  
“Well, I always said I'd be a punk if my mom would let me, so why not.”, smiled Dallon.  
And with that they got to work.

~*~*~

The line in front of the club was longer than Gerard had expected. But it didn't bother Mikey and him too much since Frank had promised him to add him to the guest list.  
“Gerard Sleigh plus one?”, he said to the bouncer who didn't look as much as a bouncer as the ones Gerard remembered. Well, he sure was tall, but apart from that...  
“Are you sure, mi amigo? That sounded more like a question.”  
“Uhm, just look? Frank said... I should be on there...”  
“I'm just messing with you, cara de ángel. Go ahead.”, he said and waved them in with a mock bow.  
Gerard was slightly red with embarrassment at that point. Mikey laughed at him.  
“Shut up.”  
“I'm not saying anything!”

The show was good. Amazing even. Frank was thrashing around on stage and screaming his soul out into the microphone. Gerard was sure Frank had seen him in the crowd, but Gerard had also seen Jamia somewhere in the club and thus decided to not wait around until Frank would try to find him after the show.  
Frank had looked amazing though, all sweaty like that. Gerard left the club with a huge grin, Mikey shaking his head at him.

~*~*~

Patrick got the call late Saturday evening.  
“What do you mean, they quit???”, he asked the caller. “We need them for the tour! … And if not? … Yes, you do that.” With a sigh he hung up.  
“What happened?”, asked Pete.  
“The guys we had as bassist and drummer for our tour, Cash and Alex, quit because their band got signed. Now we need new guys who preferably already know the songs and who can tour in a few months...”  
“Know the songs? Like the songs from the unreleased album?”  
“Yes. There are a few session musicians at the studio who do know them, now I can only hope they have time to tour.”  
“Don't worry so much. It will work out eventually. You will see.”  
“I hope so.”, Patrick sighted.

~*~*~

“I have a job. And a flat!”, Brendon announced as he opened the door to Spencer and Ryan's flat around midnight.  
“What, really?”  
“Care you explain?”  
And Brendon loved to talk, so he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And all together now [I'd Be A Punk (If My Mom Would Let Me)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkd1kmWf2IA)
> 
> Also I speak German, English, (bad) French and (bad) Dutch but not Spanish so this is probably bullshit but it's supposed to mean "My Friend" and "Angel face"  
> Yeah, idk
> 
> Comment?


	10. i m the chapter this story needs, not the one it deserves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "(Oh, how it's been so long, We're so sorry we've been gone, We were busy watching a lack of inspiration turn into a fully blown writers block!)" The words float around the lobby (or was it called the entrance hall?) of the art way. A chapter title. everyone waited, frozen in anticipitation. the chapter title was there. (and a bit pathetic if you asked Brendon. Was that supposed to be an apology?) Nothing else happened. Not for months. Brendon had ADHD and got easily bored, especially doing spencers job again. So he stopped being frozen in anticipation. there is only a certain amount of time you can stay still if you have adhd. brendon was over that limit quite a long time ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah. Hi. thi is terribly late and not what you deserve. I won't make any promises that the actual tenth chapter, indeed named "(Oh, how it's been so long, We're so sorry we've been gone, We were busy watching a lack of inspiration turn into a fully blown writers block!)" will be written anytime soon. But maybe this will help to soothe my conscience...

Brendon Stopped staring at the ceiling. Why was he doing that again? He didn't know, really, but he saw people on the street doing the same thing. (Well, sky not ceiling, in their case) As soon as he looked at them thogh, they gradually started moving again. Weird. He was sitting at Spencers desk once again. lunchbreak had ended about five minutes ago (but it hat felt a hell of a lot longer than that, for some reason), which meant it was really quiet and boring now. In situations like this Brendon's third thoughts* often came up with ridiculous observations. Today's was: 'Everyone i know but two people are somehow musical. huh. weird. and evrytime i close my eyes, i see myself on a stage. and ryan is there. but he switches with ian and kenny. and dallon is there. switching with my starbucks barista and the guy who served me at burgerking!? Spencer is there switching with dan?? Sometimes even all of them are clones of me. and i become a demon. but then a priest!me is exorcising me??????? is this a band? is that my band? ami supposed to be in a band with these people? does them changing mean that they leave and get replaced?? does that mean everyone leaves me????' This train of bad grammar was fortunatelly interrupted by the arrival of the two only non-musical persons he knew. "Gerard! Mikey!" "Brendon? Where is Spencer??" That, mikey realised, had apparently been the wrong thing to say. "Heeeee leeäääfttt meeeääää" Brendon whailed, even though you probably need to know some german to see that. "Left you? I didn't know yu guys were... y'know...?" said gerard. Mikey looked at his moron/brother "That cant be what he means, why the hell would he do his job for him if they broke up???" "Ok. Point." they looked at brendon questioning(ly?) "He left my imaginary band." brendon clarified. "as did everyone else." "huh." said gerard "my imaginary band gets also left by its drummers a lot. and then everyone turnes into coffins and a headstone saying 'idea'" brendon looked bewildered. but not as bewildered as mikey. "but... thats my imaginary band?!? git ur own????" "wait! you two are... musical? THAT MEANS EVERYONE I KNOW IS! AND SOMEHOW SUPPOSED TO BE IN A BAND! LETS MAKE lISTS WHOS WITH WHOM!"

Half an hour later they had some notes in front of them.  
"ok, let's call this one the... cash and alex band. the cab."  
"they just got signed" mikey informed them.  
"BUT IAN WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IN MY BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNND"  
"Yeah, and frank in ours but he's obviously in leathermouth."  
"huh. ok."  
"how are we calling the pete patrick joe and andy band?"  
"uuuh... very short boys?"  
"ok"  
As if summoned, frank walked in.  
"Hi guys-- Gerard, didnt your break end like, 40 minutes ago? what are you still doing here, won't your boss be upset?"  
"what? no why would i be upset with myself? And now shh! we're uncovering something big here. i need to know why frank-- OUCH! MIKEY STOP HITTING ME???"  
"Mikey? Mikeyway? I'm not at all sure if this fits in the storyline, but i had totally no idea you were working here?? remember me from shool?"  
"yeah, sure i do"  
"wait a second... way? dont tell me YOU'RE the big boss here?"  
"Actually he's seond in command to -- OUCH STOP HITTING ME MIKEY!"  
Gerard took his brother in a headlock, and tried to subdue him, until he saw frank, who had been hidden behind his brother the whole time.  
"FRANK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE???????"  
"GERARD ARE YOU CRAZY YOU'RE KILLING YOUR BOSS YOURE GONNA GET FIRED!"  
"atually he's his own boss", said a distracted brendon. (really adhd is a cool thing, over the course of thirty seconds you acn forget ur baby brother is sleeping and scream through the whole house to try to communicate with your dad)  
"wait a second! i suddenly and for no apparent reason remember! Your real name is gerard arthur way. g. art. way!"  
"uuuh"  
"YOU LIED TO MMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"  
"YOU TURN INTO A COFFIN!"  
"WELL SO DO YOU BUT AT LEAST YOU GET A FANCY _IDEA_ HEADSTONE!!!"  
I'VE FIGURED IT OUT*  
"Who are you???" they asked in unison  
I AM THE DEATH OF REALLY BAD FANFICTION, AND YOU ARE IN A BANDOM ONE THAT HAS BEEN ABANDONED SO LONG IT TURNED BAD AND WENT ROGUE  
I'M SORRY I HAVE TO END THIS.  
"THE DEATH OF BAD FANFICTIONS???"  
"THE DEATH OF BAD FANFICTIONS???"  
"THE DEATH OF BAD FANFICTIONS???"  
"THE DEATH OF BAD FANFICTIONS???"  
YES. I'M DEATHS OTHER GRANDDAAUGHTER, MARY-SUSAN. AND NOW I HAVE TO END THIS

HI MY NAME IS MARY-SUSAN STO HELIT AND I'M A MARY SUE (THAT'S HOW I GOT MY NAME). I HAVE LONG EBONY BLACK HAIR WITH PURPLE STREAKS AND RED TIPS THAT REACHES MY MID-BACK AND ICY BLUE EYES LIKE LIMPID TEARS AND A LOT OF PEOPLE TELL ME I LOOK LIKE AMY LEE (AN: IF U DON'T KNOW WHO SHE IS GET DA HELL OUT OF HERE!). I'M NOT RELATED TO GERARD WAY BUT I WISH I WAS BECAUSE HE'S A MAJOR FUCKING HOTTIE. I'M A DEATH BUT MY TEETH ARE STRAIGHT AND WHITE. I HAVE PALE WHITE SKIN. I'M ALSO A WITCH, AND I GO TO A MAGIC SCHOOL CALLED HOGWARTS IN ENGLAND WHERE I'M IN THE SEVENTH YEAR (I'M SEVENTEEN). I'M A GOTH (IN CASE YOU COULDN'T TELL) AND I WEAR MOSTLY BLACK. I LOVE HOT TOPIC AND I BUY ALL MY CLOTHES FROM THERE. FOR EXAMPLE TODAY I WAS WEARING A BLACK CORSET WITH MATCHING LACE AROUND IT AND A BLACK LEATHER MINISKIRT, PINK FISHNETS AND BLACK COMBAT BOOTS. I WAS WEARING BLACK LIPSTICK, WHITE FOUNDATION, BLACK EYELINER AND RED EYE SHADOW. I WAS WALKING OUTSIDE HOGWARTS. IT WAS SNOWING AND RAINING SO THERE WAS NO SUN, WHICH I WAS VERY HAPPY ABOUT. A LOT OF PREPS STARED AT ME. I PUT UP MY SCYTHE AT THEM.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my c key is broken
> 
> * yes i read terry pratchett now


End file.
